day 110. psalm 23: the Lord is my shepherd

new Zealand. wow... what an amazing stunningly beautiful country!
I am currently writing this blogpost from Christchurch International Airport (international arrivals to be exact. it's the "comfy-est" place to bum around since we have a 5hr wait til we can check in at 3am.)
and it is now the end of the 4 day backpacking thru NZ trip! (well, 6 days if you include traveling to/fro Sydney.) and it was just... wow.
seeing so many sheep everywhere, it really brought out the meaning of Psalm 23.

"the Lord is my shepherd...
...even tho I wall thru the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil.
For His rod and His staff, they comfort me"
a pastor once mentioned in his sermon that "sheep are one of the dumbest/stupidest animals out there". and from this trip, all they seem to do is eat grass, poop, and sleep. lol... but more importantly, they are all fenced in. they have no concept of boundaries, what is/isn't dangerous territory... nothing. they need a someone to oversee all that they do.
this trip, we went true backpacker style, no GPS. all we had was 1 paper map. sometimes we felt so lost. other times we just felt like wandering down certain roads cus the scenery got our attention! while driving after the sun has set, the dark non-lit, curvy and twisty roads seemed really dangerous. some nights, we werent too sure about the safety of the accomos. but we stayed there anyways. we prayed before sleeping, and before taking off for the next leg of the trip. we knew and were super glad to know we has a Shepherd looking out for His stupid clueless sheep. haha...

"He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul"
in addition to the plentiful green pastures (both farmland and mountain/hillsides), there were also beautiful mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, lakes, beaches, cliffs, etc, absolutely stunning! seeing all those landscapes/views while driving/tour busing/trail hiking/skydiving, it really does restore your soul.
not only does it make you feel physically small, but it makes you realize just how GREAT God is. He created earth as an artist, and we immensely enjoyed a small fraction of all He's made.

all in all, a fantastic trip with perfect weather everywhere we went (despite the torrential weather in the north island right now), I definitely saw more of God's handiwork, experienced more of His provision, and grew closer to my creator. :)

PS. hope my scripture quoting was accurate. haha... i dont even know which version i quoted! =P

day 105: prayer is...

so i lied.

back with a blog post the next day instead. =P

was really amazed at The eXchange tonight! aka Hillsong's cross campus joint easter sunday evening at the S.E.C. (aka Sydney's version of the ACC).

Sanga preached up a storm! dangs... a lot of the times, we focus on what the different "names" of God. i.e. Saviour. Healer. Provider. Almighty. Father. etc

so Sanga touched on who WE are called to be. he pretty much went thru the entire NT and picked out 1 word that describes us as christians, aka Christ followers. gunna see if i can buy a recording of tonight's msg. he definitely brought the Word!

and at some point during the night, i realized what prayer was. one aspect of it anyways.. might've been during the offering prayer. but its more than just "talking to God". but its actually letting go of all pride, admitting that i can't do this on my own. and its lifting it up, and completely releasing your worry/troubles to God. aka. i need help.

its like, what it means when you "lay it all down at the cross". its not get to the cross, lay down what your worries are, then pick em back up and take it with you. but no, its leaving it there, NAILED to the cross. theres no need to take any of it back! =)

Easter resurrection sunday indeed! the weekend of mourning is over. its time to celebrate the freedom we got (paid at a great cost) over 2000 years ago! HAPPY DAY!!!! =)

oh and at the end of the service, OH MY... HILLSONG YOUTH! it was absolutely nuts! im so excited for JAM2011 now! only at Hillsong would you get a moshpraise pit, with crowd surfing... at the end of the Easter Sunday service. haha...

okay... i promise myself. before i leave at the end of november, i will get back into that praise pit just one more time. thought i've outgrown the praise pit, and prefer the "happy in the seating/stands and not get shoved/jumped on" area. but i know its a totally different experience in the pit. haha...

day 104: life's pretty easy going... for me anyways.

it is seriously crazy how blessed i am.

i mean... whats my worst "problem" right now?

- no internet at home (for 2 weeks now)

- no dryer, so i have to wait ~2 days for my clothes to dry by hanging them

- sharing a room with a roomie who has different lifestyle habits than me

- making sure i get enough sleep to balance out my energy level

- what do i eat for my next meal?!?!

been catching up with friends back home, and sharing prayer requests with others here.

others are going thru so much more in their life. and it makes my "problems" just seem miniscule. not even problems... mine are just everyday life decisions.

others are going thru (close family/friends) deaths, financial struggles, family problems... im so glad i dont have any of that!

i guess its something ive always thought about tho. its like those ppl who have dramatic life changing testimonies, but i dont. mine is a blessed and "pretty smooth sailing" testimony. almost in a way thats like "when will it be my turn to go thru big struggles and problems?"

but its like what my dad and others have said "its not wrong to be blessed and rich. but its what you do with your blessings and riches that can be wrong".

and here i am, sitting here, planning my next adventure. lol...

preparing to be blown away by God. He's going to show me (and 3 others) some amazing things next week! =) [updates to come in my next blog post, maybe 1.5 weeks from now? i'll try to squeeze in a post between that but no promises!]

yeup... i definitely won the ovarian lottery. thankful to have been born in north america, in a developed country known as canada!

another year...

another lent.

another fail. -_-

i wanted to read thru isaiah for last year's lent. but failed.

decided to continue on with it with this year's lent. pick up where i left off last year.

but nope. failed.

man.. am i ever going to get thru isaiah? lol

think im still on like ch30 or something.

i mean.. i've been thru other books since. like james, the 4 gospels, colossians, philippians, ephesians... its true. the NT is so much easier to read.

gah... okay. lets see if i can finish isaiah before the end of first semester!! =)

Day 97: The Next Time...

so about a year and 2 weeks ago, i was still in london. it was the day after ACF banquet, and i still had ~2 more exams to go until i was done my undergrad.

pretty typical scenario. nice spring day, i was out for a late lunch at BARAKATS with some of the older (former) ACF crowd: caleb, glendon (helen), chris (kitty), gavin, and i believe taguibao was also there. haha...

now, if any of them told me the next time i would be enjoying a shawarma would be a year later, sitting in EL JANNAH's, also with a bunch of asian christians, i would've been like "hah. nahhh!"

but thats what just happened earlier tonight. a nice fall evening, chillin' with my cell group after church PM service, went for some middle eastern food, enjoyed that garlic dip all the same... haha

it has seriously been an amazing journey so far. God has opened so many doors for me to get here (financial provision, support from everyone, preparing me as a person and the skills needed to live 15,500km away from home, etc). and i thought the journey was "complete" as soon as i touched down in sydney. how wrong i was!! He wasn't done showing me what He can do just yet!

He knows there are times when i miss home so much i really wanted to hop on a plane and just be back in TO. He provides small little pieces of home like tonight so i can enjoy my time here in sydney.

He pushes me to step out of MY comfort zone to get to the next step. i really don't feel comfortable doing it. yet when i take that leap of faith, i go from just "supposed" to attend a colour conference i have no interest in whatsoever, to getting to know the 2nd semesters better, and getting myself a position as camera op on the colour kids tv crew!

Or when i have no idea why i came across NLCC, yet felt compelled to stay at the church and even join a cell group. only to discover 2 months later that their church was starting a TV ministry and needed help urgently!

there is so much more to dreams.

instead of just dreaming them, its about having faith that you will live them.

its almost day 100.

almost 1/3 of my year here in sydney has gone by.

still 2/3s left to come. im excited! =)